Garter.



J. SMITH.

GARTER.

APPLlcAmN FILED 1AN.21,|915.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

Joepamzmwmm JOSEPH wILMo'r sivirrn, oF NEW YORK, N. Y.

f GARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

patented nec. es, rais.

Application filed January 27, 1915. Serial No. 4,580.

T0 all whom it may concern.' i

Be it known that I, JOSEPH VVILMOT SMITH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York, in the county of New `York and State of New York, have invented new and useful improvements in Garters, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to a garment supporter, and particularly'to hose supporters.

Such hose supporters, when employed for supporting half hose or socks are frequently applied to the bare limb, and they usually embody certain parts which it is advisable or necessary to form of metal. 1t is also advisable to prevent, if possible, such a metal part vfrom coming in direct contact with the esh of the limb. For this reason in hose supporters or Vgarters of simple construction diiiculty is experienced in producing 'a garter in which the metal parts are prevented from coming in contact with the limb.

The principal object of the present inven* tion is to produce a garment supporter of very simple construction which can be readily applied and adjusted on the limb, and which embodies a metal part, but having a very simple construction operating to prevent the metal from coming in contact with the limb.

A further object of the invention is to producea garment supporter having a very neat and sanitary appearance, particularly with respect to the member employed to prevent the contact of the metal with the limb.

A further object of the invention is to provide a protecting member which, while it eifectually prevents contact with the metal, will also be a non-absorbent-and adapted to be easily cleaned.

The invention consists in the general combination of parts and features to be described hereinafter.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and set forth in the accompanying specification, and the broad scope of the invention is set forth in the claims following hereinafter.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective indicating the construction and the manner of applying the device in practice. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing a bar disconnected from the encircling band with-which it is employed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2, showing the other face of the said bar. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the bar shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective showing one embodiment of the protecting member which I employ to prevent the metal bar from coming in contact with the limb. Fig. 6 is a perspective showing another embodiment of the protecting member.

iRefei-ring more particularly to the parts, 10 represents an encircling band which may be of any suitable material, such as elastic of a suitable length to encircle the limb below the knee. W ith thisyband employ a lmetallic portion which may be in the forni of a supporting bar 11 which is preferably formed o f a narrow elongated bar of thin metal, said bar preferably having at its upper end two oppositely disposed eyes or slots 12: The bar is attached to the band by pulling the loose ends 13 of the band through the slots in succession and in op osite directions. Vhen attached to the band in this way the bar will prevent the loose ends from pulling out of the slots so that when adjusted the diameter of the encircling b and will be maintained. i However, the encircling band may be adjusted to any size desired by manipulating the ends 13 with ones fingers in either direction at the slots. Any suitable engaging means may be employed for securing the bar to the hose, a portion of which hose is indicated at 14. But this engaging means is preferably so constructed as to enable the sleeve to hold it o ut of contact with the limb. This en-v gaging means is therefore preferably rigid with the bar and may be produced simply by turning up the lower end of the bar so as to form a hook 15, and this hook is preferably formed with sei-rations or teeth 16 to engage the material of the hose 14.

In order to prevent any metal part from coming in contact with the flesh of the limb I prefer to provide a protecting member 17 which extends on the front and rear faces of the bar 11 and covers the side ofthe metallic portion which is disposed near the limb.

This protecting member is preferably in the form of a simple flat sleeve such as that shown in Fig. 1. This sleeve should be slid onto the bar 1l from the upper end thereof before the band 10 is attached, and if the sleeve tended to move downward it would be prevented at its lower end from sliding off of the bar by the aforesaid engaging means or hook 15. Likewise if the sleeve tended to move upwardly on the bar, band 10 would prevent such a movement. The

- dotted line 17a in Fig. 4. This protecting,

member is preferably formed of a nonabsorbent material and a material which is clean and inviting in appearance. For this prurpose I prefer to use whitel Celluloid.

his material is clean in appearance andi non-absorbent, so that it will not take up perspiration and it can be readily cleaned, if desired, with a moist cloth. By forming the protecting member 17 of celluloid it is articularly well adapted for receiving an inscription or legend, which may be printed upon it in ink, and on account of the white color of the celluloid the legend or printed matter is very conspicuous, and therefore the protecting member is admirably adapted for carrying advertisements, such as the name of a manufacturing company. lf desired, the protecting member may be formed of a sleeve, such as the sleeve 18 illustrated in Fig. 5, presenting an opening or window 19 in its forward face, and this form of Athe protecting member is admirably adapted for use with the bar 11 when bearing initials 20 on its face, such as shown in Figure 3 This embodiment of the invention may be adopted where the bar 11 is of a better quality. lWith the initals directly on the bar the opening 19 operates as a window, and the Celluloid gives the eect of a frame 4 aroundv the initials.

' l am aware that it is old to provide a garter with a flat bar adapted to engage the hose at its lower end, and having a limbencircling end of t e bar to support the same. his

form of garter was practical and eiiicient,

but, owing to the modern style of dressing wherein short drawers are worn, this one time practical and eflicient garter is today obsolete and unsalable. My improvement, though extremely simple, renders this garter available and useful to many persons who otherwise would not` wear a garter of this type. 4

I do not claim to be the iirst to cover a metal part to prevent its touching theflesh, but I do claim to have produced a garter, the features of which all coperate in such a way thatcertain parts of the metal may be left exposed. By leaving these parts e'xposed, the application of the protecting covering is rendered so simpleand inexpensive that a very practical and salable "garter is produced without entailing any substantial increase in cost of manufacture.

I do not confine myself to the particular forms of the protecting member illustrated, and l may-adopt other forms for the same, such, for instance, as that'shown in Fig. 6, in which the protecting member 2O is in the form Aof an elongated flat plate 21 having its edges bent around and forming Hanges limb but band secured through the u per.

22 engaging the side edges of the bar. It is understood, however, that when in this form the flanges 22 permanently lhold the position in which they .are illustrated, so that the protecting member may be applied to the bar by sliding it over the upper end of the bar in the' manner-suggested above. The protecting member is preferably longv enough to extend from the hook 15 to the band 10, so that it is prevented by the hook and the band from Working along the bar. In other words, the band and the hook operate to retain the protecting member on the bar. l

It will be observed that the protecting member 17 extends upwardly on the bar to a point near the slots 12 and hence the upper ortion of the metal bar is -left exposed.

owever, the band 10 is attached to the bar in such a way that it will hold this exposed end of the bar out of contact with the limb. For this purpose the band is preferably attached to the bar in the manner illustrated, that'is, one end of the band passes through one of the slots from the inner side of the bar and then throughthe other slot from the outer side; the other end of the bandis passed through the slots in the saine way but in a reverse direction. This arrangement accomplishes the double effect of keep ing the upper end of the bar away from the permitting easy adjustments of the band. Y

ln constructing the garter, the sleeve member may obviously be made of any suitable non-metallic material, such as the materials named above. lt is also necessary that the slots in the metallic member and the band should have a relation suchthat the band will operate to hold the exposed end of the metallic member out of contact with the limb. This is accomplished by placing the slots as illustrated close together lso lthat where the band projects at the back of the metallic member it touches the limb n'ndO holds the metallic member olf 0f the 1m n lt is understood that the embodiment of the invention set forth herein is only one of the many embodiments or forms this invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of my invention nor in my claims to the particular embodiment set forth. l

What l claim is:

1.' A garter having a metallic portion with engaging means for engaging the hose, and a. nonmetallic covering for said metallic portion holding the lower portion of said metallic portion out of contact with the limb, said metallic portion having an exposed portion with eyes projecting beyond the upper end of said covering,and an encircling band to pass around the limb and.

and projecting on the inner side'of the said an upward or downward displacement of.

said covering.

L2. In a garter, the combination with a bar having longitudinal slots in its upper end and having its'lower end upturned and provided Awith -hose engaging teeth, of a limbencircling. band secured through said longitudinal slots for supporting the bar, and a 15 non-metallicsleeve mounted on the bar so as to prevent contact thereof with the limb,

vof the sleeve.

said sleeve engaging at its lower lend the upturned lower end of the bar'whereby'the said upturned end would retain the sleeve- `from normal downward displacement, said sleeve terminatingat its opposite'end. adjacent said longitudinal slots -wherebv said band would prevent upward displacement In testimony whereof I-have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribingl witnesses.

JOSEPH WILMQT SMITH..

Witnesses: F. D. AMMEN, A. DE Morin 

